Turn About
by audrulyte
Summary: Loosely based on Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series and Rena's 'Good Enough' fan fic. Takes place sometime after Twelve Sharp. Stephanie Plum does a distraction job for Ranger, but things don't go as planned. Then it gets even worse. Babe
1. Part 1

_Disclaimer: not mine not making any money, just playing with the characters. All the characters originally belong to JE._

_Disclaimer 2: this story was inspired by fan fiction author Rena. Her 'Good Enough' series took me through Dark Ages of JE's 13-16 books.  
_

_This is my first attempt at fan fic and also my very first attempt to write a story in English, so please be gentle._

_Events in this story take place sometime after Twelve Sharp. What happened in SP 13 through 16 never happened in my SP universe._

_Enjoy reading and please review. Huge 'Thank you' to all my readers and reviewers. I do appreciate all of you.  
_

_**Now complete.**  
_

**ONE**_  
_

My name is Stephanie Plum and I'm a Bombshell bounty hunter from the Burg. Well, maybe I'm not all that good at this bounty hunting business after all as I often end up rolling in garbage and my cars tend to go to the car heaven far too often, but still I always get my guy in the end. Well, maybe someday I'll get better at this.

Sometimes I also work with Ranger and for his RangeMan, Inc. security company (among other things). Overall Ranger is my boss and mentor. He is also my friend and a once lover. He's also my personal Batman, only with his responsibilities most probably stretching far beyond one Gotham city. I sometimes think that Ranger is responsible like for the whole world let alone Gotham. And to complete this picture, I'd also add to Ranger's file that he is possibly the sexiest man living, and I'm in love with him. But… oh, well, let's just not go there for now.

As for today, Ranger had asked me to do this distraction job for him, and as it was already around 10 p.m., I was expecting him to appear any minute now.

Ranger specifically requested that I pull on some really sexy look for tonight's job, so I have clearly outdone myself following his orders. There are certain times when a woman just knows she looks good, and tonight was one of these times for myself.

I've took one final glance at my reflection in a full size mirror, taking in my whole shape in this strapless navy blue mini dress, which clang to my body as tight as a second skin. Oh, God how glad I was that Ranger forced me to go jogging with him every morning for the past two weeks and all my belly fat was gone or else my belly would be bulging and ruining my perfect sexy look big time. I readjusted one reclusive hair lock and I smiled back at my reflection happy with the final results.

Then I've heard the locks on my door tumble and when I turned around I saw Ranger starring at me, rapt.

'Yo', said Ranger. His voice was husky. And there was this an almost smile on his face which turned into a full-on smile after his small inspection on me. And that full-on smile almost knocked me off my feet right there and right then.

'Looking good tonight, Babe,' he concluded.

'You don't look too bad yourself, Ranger.' Yeah. That was clearly an understatement.

Tonight Ranger was dressed in his usual only black outfit, but he traded his SWAT/Batman look for that of Bruce Wayne's for the night. A black and apparently very high quality suit fitted him so damn well, and he was looking so yummy and gorgeous, that a couple of short seconds of inspecting him made my hormones kick in hard. Damn, those stupid hormones, but I'd love to jump Ranger right here and right now, and do to him all those crazy and sexual things, which still haunt me after our one and only night together. I was about to check myself for drooling, when Ranger chuckled and gave me one of his rare full 100 watts smiles.

'If it was my call, Babe, we'd end in your bed instead of going anywhere', he said still smiling, but his eyes were already misted with passion.

Damn, Ranger's ESP.

This got another chuckle from Ranger, and for a moment I've wondered, if I've said that aloud.

'You're like an open book to me, Babe,' he grinned at me, and then got more serious. 'We've got a job to do. You're ready to roll?'

'Sure, just let me grab my purse and we can be off', and I twirled to go get my stuff, but Ranger was faster. He closed the gap between us in a twinkle, caught me in mid-turn and pulled me into himself.

'Not so fast', he mumbled passionately, and the next moment I was already melting into his hot kiss and embrace.

My knees betrayed me that very instant and only Ranger's tight yet gentle grip on my shoulders and back held me in an upright position and securely pressed into his hard chest. His one hand then reached up and started caressing the nape of my neck, while another slowly traveled up my leg under the dress and stroked my bare skin underneath. The heat emanating from his body, and these hot strokes all along my bare skin as well as his strong leg pressed between mine were too much for me to handle right now, so when a moan of pure pleasure rose up in my throat to erupt right into his, there was no chance I could stop it. Just a hot kiss of this Wizard, and some knowing caressing, and I was readily climbing to a Ranger induced orgasm. And when my body erupted with this uncontrollable wave of sexual relief, he embraced me even tighter, taking in my moans and trembles with his whole body now so tight to mine that we were almost one.

My head was a little bit spinning, my knees were still quite weak, and I have not yet got my wind back, when he had rather reluctantly pulled his mouth off of mine like an inch away and looked me straight into the eye. I looked back into his and a whirlwind of passion running there has almost drowned me.

'Even though I'd love to enjoy you some more, Beautiful, and I could think f many ways of ruining you to other men, we've still got a job to do,' he whispered to me, and quite unwillingly I've nodded my agreement.

'I need to fix a wire on you,' he went on still burning me with his gaze right into the very depths of my soul. His hands were bit shaky, so I was sure he wasn't as unmoved as he tried to appear.

While he was fixing the damn wire to my underwear, I had to do my best to keep my hands off of him. And that was hard. Real hard. With Ranger my own body played tricks on me. Though that did not really bother me at the time, as no sane woman could stand a chance of keeping her mind clear with Batman at such a close proximity. So I settled for a sigh and an eye roll.

'Babe.' OK, so he's back to one liners.

**TWO**

It was already past 11 p.m. as we sat in the semi darkness of Ranger's Porsche Turbo parked right outside this fancy new night club. While we drove to this place I've took time to carefully read a file on Thomas Gramp, and Ranger has just finished filling me on the rest of the details of the operation.

Gramp was a big shot drug dealer here in Trenton, who went FTA a couple of days ago on some minor charges and RangeMan has been hired to take Gramp in. You'd say the usual FTA stuff, eh? Wrong. While some undisclosed hirer wanted Gramp taken in, Trenton PD had their own plans on Gramp and preferred to let him walk free until some more serious charges could be stuck on him. And that to me smelled of Joe trouble all over the place.

Anyway I was to go in and do my best with my fingers crossed not to cross ways with TPD's operation. Ranger has once again successfully ESPed me.

'If TPD brings Thomas in on what they already have on him, it would only turn to be some rather minor drug dealing charges as they cannot prove anything big, and he'd be back out soon. But if we take him in and turn him over to higher authorities behind this RangeMan's operation, then some real big stuff and charges could stick on him. And that could also help to take Thomas as well as some other big drug dealers in the state out for good.'

Ranger's reasoning was to my liking, but I still was reluctant to cross paths with Joe on this case. Anyway, I nodded my agreement.

'I understand, Ranger. But this does not make things any easier.'

We looked intently at each other's eyes for a moment – he clearly trying to reassure me, and me seeking to borrow some of his strength and calmness.

'You ready, Babe?'

'Yeah,' I replied, trying my best to keep the nervousness I've been feeling out of my voice, but I've clearly failed.

'I'll be there watching out for you,' Ranger tried to ensure me and gently squeezed my fingers with his. 'Tank and Lester will be there watching out for you too. Remember, your task is to catch Thomas's attention and, if possible, to get him outside alone. We don't want it to get messy, and it sure might get, if we come on him with his thugs at hand. Thomas is really dangerous so be very careful, Babe.'

'Okey dokey, I will,' I cracked a weak smile at him and got out of the car before the rest of my courage has not left me for good.

When I entered the club, I did my best to appear relaxed and fully enjoying myself. But this already came at certain price and I was aware that I'll be paying full for trying to keep the appearances in a form of my own full mental exhaustion afterwards.

Luckily, I was able to spot Gramp shortly after I came in, so I could direct my efforts most fruitfully. It only took me two passes of the bar and some 20 minutes of sexy wiggle-waggles on the dance floor close to the Gramp's table, before he decided to try his luck with me.

'Hey, sexy,' he said approaching me on a dance floor. 'Dance with me'.

That did not sound like a question at all, but rather like some sort of an order or a mere statement of what was going to happen next, as, even before I could answer anything, I've found myself tightly between his meaty hands and he was already pushing himself all over me doing all these strange movements with his whole body, which presumably were to be considered sexy dancing.

It's just a job, Stephanie. I told myself. So get a grip. I forced myself to slip back into my sexy persona, though deep down I felt a wave of nausea building up.

'Well, honey,' I sweetly chirped at him smiling, 'shouldn't we first make some introductions? Your boys sure would not mind that,' I've added and meaningfully looked down to where his crotch was grinding against me, and where I could already feel his erection rising.

Gulp. I had trouble controlling the rising feeling of disgust when Gramp once again opted for action and forced a wet kiss on my mouth.

'You're so sweet sexy. And you're so mine for tonight,' was his only reply.

I tried to play an ice queen at this point and pull off of him, but he tightened his grip on me and checked my protests.

'Oh, so you wanna play a bad girl, eh?' he said right into my right ear, and then licked my neck.

I literary shuddered with disgust, but luckily Thomas apparently misunderstood my bodily reaction and took it for approval. Or maybe he did not even care much, which was most probably true.

'Nothing brightens my night better than some old good spanking,' he whispered into my ear and licked it.

Once again I did my best to play a role of someone interested in that.

'Sure, macho. But maybe we should get somewhere private first?'

As he's pulled me with him towards the exit, I saw Tank for the first time. And the sight of him helped me to cool off enough to notice that though Ramp was cleraly interested in me, his thugs were to follow us. And I needed him to walk out with me alone. Ranger needed him alone and unprotected. So I just stopped dead in my tracks.

'What the hell's wrong with you, woman,' Thomas came on me.

But I just wriggled off his grip and motioned towards his two thugs, who were following us.

'Hey, man,' I said with all the strength in my voice I could possibly muster at the moment. 'I ain't gonna go for a group fun. So if you're planning some action here, you better get rid of those two assholes.'

Gramp was clearly assessing, if he should do as I ask, and if I was worth it. His gaze traveled up and down my body. Then it got fixed on my breasts, which were now so much more exposed to his looks than they were before his hands had a go on my dress. He wetted his lips. 'Let me see,' he said to me and his left thumb came up to my décolletage and found its way between my breasts pushing the dress even more down until it was held in place on on me by the threat.

I was on the very verge of screaming. And I thought for myself, that if I had a gun on me, I just might use it on this excuse of a human being.

Finally he seemed to have reached some decision. He slightly loosened his grip on me and for a moment turned to his thugs giving them a sign to get lost for a while.

'Happy now?' he raised an eyebrow to me, and the next moment I was almost flying as he started dragging me full force towards the emergency exit.

I was scared. Shitless scared at this moment. And I have caught myself thinking, just what if Ranger did not have this exit covered or if he and his men won't be there fast enough?

As soon as we were out of the building, I have found myself plastered into an alley wall, and Thomas was forcing himself on on me. I had to protest and to push him away unable to hold away my disgust and fear anymore, but this only got him angry. The next moment he slapped me hard on my face and my head hit wall with a force.

Then pain and red mist engulfed me. And then the darkness came.

**THREE**

I was floating in a red mist of pain, which swirled through my eyes making me feel sick. There was this voice coming from a far far away calling to me.

'Babe. Babe, can you hear me. Please, open your eyes for me.'

That voice was tender but persistent and it broke through the thickness of pain and mist I've been in, forcing me to reach out. I was slowly getting there and getting more aware of myself, as the pain in which I've been feeling started to get sharper. My head rang with pain. My position was rather uncomfortable, I was feeling cold and numb, but gentle strokes on my cheeks were soothing, and encouraging. So I tried to push myself in the direction of that voice and those gentle hands I've been feeling on me.

'Talk to me some more', I thought for myself, and the voice came back urging me to come out of this darkness. I forced my heavy eyelids to crack open just a tiny bit. The bright light hit my eyes hard as I've forced my reluctant eyelids open, so I hurriedly once again shut them tight close.

'Come on, Babe,' the same voice nudged me again, but there was a tiny shadow of relief in it already. 'Please, open your eyes for me'.

I never could say 'no' to my Batman, so this time I also did as he have asked me to do. Once more I've cracked my eyes open, and once more I've been blinded by the sudden light. This time round I've forced my eyes to stay open and soon they were focused enough to take in my surroundings. The light which blinded me was coming off of the lamp over the emergency exit to the club, and its light came down on me and on Ranger, who has been leaning over me, hiding Ranger's face in many dark shadows. I tried to shift my position, so I could see Ranger's face better, but my body wasn't cooperating.

'Ranger', I've tried to mutter out, but what eventually came out of my mouth sounded more like 'Rrraaanghee'.

That still got a weak smile out of Ranger.

'EMT is on the way, Babe,' he was softly whispering to me.

A thought of going to a hospital set me on to try moving once more. I wanted to protest, to jump and run away from the very possibility of any encounter with doctors and going to hospital, but only some incomprehensible gibberish came out of my mouth, and all my attempts to sit up let alone get away were too weak as I could not get my body to cooperate.

'Shh, Babe. Everything's gonna be OK. I'll take care of you and won't leave you even for a minute. You have been hit hard on your head, so you really need to get some medical check-up', Ranger went on. 'And that's not open for a discussion', he added sternly, putting my rising protests off.

Damn his ESP.

How could I possibly thwart Batman, I thought, and finally gave in to his soothing voice and caresses. My eyelids were heavy as if filled with lead, and I was willing to close my eyes, but Ranger's intent and darkened with concern look and voice kept me focused and awake.

Then the ambulance came with sirens on and lights flashing, and a pair of paramedics rushed over to where I was lying safely in Ranger's arms. Ranger let them get close and inspect me, but he obeyed my non-verbal plea and stayed close, so that I could see him.

'Not going anywhere, Babe,' he reassured me once more, when EMT guys were all over me checking for harm.

I was already on a stretcher and being prepared for transportation to the hospital, when I've noticed Joe's SUV pull in. Joe jumped out of his car in a hurry and jogged towards me.

'Damn, Cupcake. But you sure will be the cause of my death,' he stammered, and leaned down to inspect my damage.

I was tired and hurt like hell, so did not even try to react in any way to his words. Mentally I did a small dismissive eye roll which went totally unnoticed by him.

Joe was already steaming and was starting to recount all the faults of me being a bounty hunter.

'Why me?' he went on unhappily. 'Of cause, this is just what I needed tonight. Why can't I have a normal girlfriend, who has a regular 9 to 5 job? Why did I have to end up with the one who has her cars blown up on a regular basis, and who constantly ends up…'

But one of the paramedics interrupted him at that moment. 'We'll now be taking Ms Plum to the hospital. Only one of you could come with us.' He said shifting his gaze back and forward from Joe to Ranger.

'I'm coming with her. She's my girlfriend,' Joe erupted and was about to follow me into the ambulance.

For some unknown to me reason, a wave of panic washed over me at the very thought of Ranger leaving my side. I did not want Ranger away even if for a short time. So I looked at him with a silent plea 'Batman, don't leave me now.' Ranger clearly got the message, as there was this slight change in his expression before he said authoritatively, '_I_ am coming with her, Joe.'

Some silent communication passed between these two men in my life at this point, and Ranger obviously has won, as Joe sighed heavily and just stammered, 'I'll follow you in my SUV,' before rushing away to where his SUV was parked, and not even looking at me anymore before rushed departure.

I might have passed away or fell asleep on my way to the hospital, as I opened my eyes into the bright light the next moment.

"Whaa…'

'Lay still, Babe. You're in the hospital. Doctors here are gonna help you,' I've heard Ranger say.

Ranger. He's here. I was already relaxing a bit into his soothing tone.

'I hate hospitals', I've managed to lament and that got me a ghost of a smile from him.

'Don't worry, Babe. I won't let anyone hurt you. Joe's calling your family, so they'll be here soon too,' he continued in this soft voice. Then he looked away from me for a split second and nodded to someone I could not see. 'I'm gonna leave you for a while now to sort out some documents, and then I'll be right back.'

'Nooo…' I started to protest. I did not want to lose him even if for a second.

And apparently that sorted it out.

'OK, Babe. I'll stay with you, just calm down. I'm only going to ask Tank to fill the blanks.'

And surely Tank was here. Ranger silently talked to him for a moment, and then his attention was fully back on me.

I could now single out Joe's voice. Apparently he was still on the phone with my mom. 'Yes, Mrs. Plum, we're at St Francis… We're not sure yet, doctors still need to run some tests, but the outlook so far is good.'

Then a doctor came and started inspection of my damage.

'I'm Doctor Watson, Ms Plum, and I'm gonna take a good care of you now,' he introduced while checking my skull and flashing light to my eyes.

'You'll need some stitches Ms Plum, but first we have to do a CAT test,' he kept on talking.

'Uh-um,' I stammered. 'When can I go home?'

The doctor smiled back at me, and tried to reassure me, 'If the test turn out OK, then we'll let you go tomorrow. But you'll have to stay the night as you possibly have concussion.'

Spending the night at the hospital did not sound any good to me, but obviously I had no options here. So I only soothed myself with the fact that Ranger still kept to my side and wasn't about to leave me, even though medics clearly had tried to get rid of him. Good that they did dot succeed. I need Batman to stay with me tonight.

From the CAT I was taken to 'presidential' hospital room, which I was sure was solely Ranger's idea. I was glad I did not have to share the room with other patients, but on the other hand that only meant that visitors were already streaming in. And dealing with my family right now was the biggest of my problems. So I felt really grateful to Ranger, when he managed to convince my whole family to go home after relatively short period of them tormenting me with lots of 'why' and 'where', and 'how', etc. Of cause, their going home only meant that the issue has been postponed. But postponed was definitely so much better than now. I hurt, my head rang like silver bells, and I desperately needed some peace and rest.

When I woke up, my head was still heavy with lead. But the pain has already eased a little bit, so it wasn't too bad. What has awakened me though was my completely parched dry throat, and I was in a desperate need of a sip of water. I tried to look around, and spotted Ranger who'd already noticed that I'm awake and was getting up from his chair to get closer to me. There was tiredness written all over his face, but he still looked at me tenderly and gave me one of his famous half smiles. Damn, but even now I could not help but notice how damn handsome he was.

Crumpled on a chair further away in what seemed to be a rather uncomfortable position, Joe was sound asleep. Otherwise than silent beeps emanating off of medical machines attached to me my hospital room was all quiet and dim.

Ranger closed the gap between us and passed me a glass of water with a straw in it.

'Here, take a sip,' he whispered. 'Seems like you need this.'

I gratefully obliged and after a few sips sighed with relief. Water was a soothing balm for my parched throat.

'What time is it?' I asked.

'It's still night, Babe. You should go back to sleep,' he removed the glass from my hand, when I was done drinking.

Sure. Would you read me a good night tale?

'Babe,' Ranger chuckled, and I found myself thinking if I'd said that aloud. Must have been one of his successful ESPs.

I did not get my tale, but Ranger held my hand, and sure enough I soon was back to the land of dreams, where there was Ranger, me, and…

'Ms. Plum, Ms. Plum. We need you to open your eyes.' The voice was unfamiliar. Huh uh. Not going to happen. From the glow behind my eyelids I could tell it was morning, but no way was I ready to get up yet. If you don't know it yet, I'm not a morning person.

'Five more minutes', I've whined, trying to make whomever that was to go away.

'Cupcake, you need to let doctors inspect you, if you're planning to go home any time soon.'

Home. That sounded way better than staying in the hospital, so I gave in and cracked my eyes.

The doctor leaned over my and shined a light in my eyes. He made me lean forward and pulled back the bandage on my head to poke on the stitches.

'Everything looks good, so I think you'll be released home soon.'

Good. That was good. I did not want to stay in the hospital any longer. Hospitals always give me creeps. They're full of sick people, you know!

'Mr Manoso, I would like you to come with me to finish some papers now, if you don't mind', he addressed Ranger and they both walked out of the room.

I was left alone with Joe.

'Hum, Cupcake, Ranger sent Tank to get you some clean cloths, so when he comes back we most probably will be able to go home.'

Joe gently brushed my cheek with the back of his hand and planted soft kiss on my lips.

'Good. I don't want to stay here any longer.'

'So, um, Steph would you care to tell me whole story about yesterday? Ranger refused to say anything on the matter, but I'd really want to know what the hell you were doing messing with Gramp,' he sounded really pissed, but tried hard not to raise his voice.

'Did I get my man?' I asked cautiously.

'Sure, if you call THAT getting your man,' he made a gesture indicating my bandaged skull.

'Um, I just helped RangeMan to take him. I wasn't expecting it to turn ugly or something,' I retorted dismissively, trying as much as possible to avoid the subject. Unfortunately Joe wasn't helping me along.

'You should have known better than to mess with someone like Gramp,' Joe almost shouted at me.

I inched my hand up a fraction trying to stop him.

'Joe, please, can we not talk about this. Please.'

Reluctantly he gave in, but his frustration was obvious by the way he messed his hair.

'Sure, Cupcake. But we'll have to talk about this sometime later.'

If later was like never that was totally fine by me.

Ranger was back with two plastic bags in his hand.

'Tank brought you some clothes, and here's also your stuff from last night. Unfortunately, I think that your dress might be totally ruined,' he told me passing the bags to me. 'And they're already letting you go home, Babe.'

'Thanks, Ranger. Now if someone would help me up, I'd love to get myself ready to get the hell out of here.'

Joe helped me to get up, and insisted on walking me to the bathroom so I could change.

'Babe,' said Ranger and he was out in a flash.

Hm, so Bombshell duty has been passed on Joe or what?

Though I still felt a little bit shaky and slow, I refused Joe's help and insisted that I dress alone.

I decided to skip shower. Taking one at Joe's was more tempting than this in the hospital's room. But I carefully washed my face over the sink and then scrutinized my reflection in the mirror.

Gosh, but I looked real scary. There was this huge and swollen bruise on my right cheek. Bandage turban also did add to the unflattering look. As there wasn't much I could do about either, I chose not to fatigue myself with looking at my one hell of a horror movie worth face, and gathering my hair into a messy ponytail for a time being, turned my attention to plastic bags Ranger brought me.

In one of them, with St. Francis written all over it, I've found my last night's dress, and sure enough it was really messed up. For a moment I've contemplated just throwing it away, but an afterthought of Ranger's look when he saw me in it stopped me, and I put the dress back into the bag, thinking that it might yet be worth trying salvaging.

Quit it, Steph. I told myself. There is no point of thinking about Ranger, this road won't take you anywhere.

In the other bag there was my stuff from seventh – underwear, soft yoga pants, T-shirt, jacket, Ranger's SEALs hat and a pair of running shoes. Every piece of clothing had Ranger's name embroidered somewhere on it, but I was happy to have some real clothing that I wasn't going to be picky. I did, however, made a mental note not to let Joe see my bra and panties. If Ella put small RangeMan logo on outerwear,she wasn't so modest with the underwear and Ranger was written all over these two items of closing. So much for Bob and boys missing me, but I wasn't up for a row with Joe over this.

I dressed as fast as I could, and put on the SEALs hat. Then I looked back to the mirror. Still not a pretty picture, but it will have to do. Ranger's SEALs hat always made me feel like a badass, and this time was no exception. I smiled inwardly thinking that maybe this badass feeling will ease my awareness of my not so pretty looks after all.

I grabbed my things and headed out. Joe was already waiting for me. His eyes narrowed when he saw what I was wearing, but he did not say anything about it.

'Got to stop by the front desk and sign some things, but otherwise we're good to go.' He reached out and took bag in one hand, and held me by hand with another. We walked out of the room together.

**FOUR**

The ride to Joe's house was quiet. Joe's mood has improved considerably since we left the hospital. I wasn't sure what caused such a change, but, well, I was in no mood to ask either.

Bob tore towards me as soon as Joe opened the door, but Joe caught him by the collar just in time to prevent him jump on me.

'Not so fast Bob,' Joe reprimanded the dog. 'We need to be gentle to Cupcake, and you jumping her is not an option.'

Bob happily wagged his tail at us, still looking at me and probably contemplating his doggish thoughts whether he should submit.

'You want something to eat, Cupcake? I could order pizza.'

'Sure,' I said. Food sounded good. 'Do this, and I'm going upstairs to take a shower.'

'Need help getting up there?' Morelli rarely missed opportunity to share a shower, so him offering only to take me there, but not actually share one, was telling me loads of how awful I looked. Not that I felt I could be up for some shower or bed action right now.

'Nah, I'm good.'

He used the opportunity to seize me gently in his grip and plant a soft kiss on my mouth.

'I'm glad you're OK, Steph. You really got me worried this time.'

He was still mad with me for getting involved with whole Gramp thing and getting hurt, but it was a peace offering and I took it as such.

'Thanks, Joe.' I kissed him back, then gently pulled away and started up the stairs.

I dropped my bag on bedroom bed and kicked off my shoes. I was half way though undressing when Joe came in to check on me.

'Cupcake.'

I turned to him, and observed his face turn all angry.

'What the hell is this?' he started with slightly raised voice.

'What are you talking about?' I tried to play surprise, but I already had a clue that my RangeMan underwear have done their evil job.

'Why the fuck Ranger is written all over your bra and panties?' he was already yelling at me.

I tried to retort in a soothing tone, 'Well, it's part of my RangeMan uniform…'

'What?'

'Well, it's Ella. She is his housekeeper and she also does Ranger's uniforms, and she always puts company's name on every piece. I guess when Tank got me a change of clothing from Ranger's apartment…'

Slam! Wrong way to drop this bomb Stephanie, I thought with a wince, but the genie was already out of the bottle.

Morelli was furious. 'You keep your clothes at Ranger's apartment? What else am I going to learn today? That you share a bed with him too?' Morelli demanded.

'There is no women's locker room at RangeMan, so I use Ranger's apartment to shower and change. It's not a big deal, Joe.'

But that clearly did not go well with him.

'I can almost deal with the fact that you're a lousy bounty hunter, who's become a laughing stock of the Burg. But I ain't taking this shit about you working for Ranger anymore!' he shouted angrily. 'You are gonna choose right now and tight here, if you want to keep on being someone everyone laughs at, or you quit this bounty hunting nonsense and start acting like a regular person.'

He was angry. So angry, that I could see that he had trouble controlling himself. His hands were on my shoulders and shaking me. My head rang with his shouts and from this shaking, and I felt frustrated and angry myself.

'I ain't gonna quit being bounty hunter, Joe. I liked my job. I might not be very ood at it, but I'm getting better and I always get my guy.' I tried to calm him down with my low tone, but it did not work.

'You're not getting better, Steph. You're getting yourself killed down this road. And last night is a good proof to my words.' He was shouting again. Oh, good. We're heading for yet another of them famous in the whole Burg Plum vs. Morelli fights.

'Don't be cruel, Joe. I helped, I was part of a team yesterday.'

'If Ranger wanted Gramp down, he could've taken him in any time without you. Also that might have probably turned out better than it actually did with you in all this,' he kept on shouting. 'So you're an idiot, if you think you are really that important for Ranger's operations. Stop kidding yourself that you're given anything more than petty jobs from Ranger, cause he knows you need the money.'

'No, Ranger wouldn't do that. Ranger trusts me to do the job,' I yelled back already crying.

Joe shook me hard. 'Ranger wants you in his bed, and that is all, you fool!'

'Stop it Joe. You're wrong. Ranger's my friend.'

'Don't be naïve, Cupcake,' Joe's voice changed, turned cajoling. 'If you really think you're any good at bounty hunting and this stuff, you must have your head checked at the very least.'

That was mean. And his words hurt me like hell. We often fight with Joe, but never before our fight were so ugly.

I could not breath. I was starting hyperventilating. My eyes were filled with tears. And right now I hated Joe so much I thought I could kill him on the spot. I wanted to get the hell out of here.

'Let go of me, Joe! I don't want to listen to you no more. Leave me alone!'

But he wasn't about to give in. 'Oh, no, Cupcake. You're not going anywhere until we're finished talking.'

He forced me onto the bed. 'When we're done, you are going to make some changes in your life, Steph.'

He took his hand off of me and stood hovering over me. It was clear that he was trying to suppress his anger and calm down.

'First of, you're gonna quit bounty hunting and all your business with Ranger. You're gonna find yourself a nice job with regular hours. Then you're moving in with me for good. And from there we will see. But this bounty hunting and Ranger stuff ain't gonna fly no more for you.'

He was ruffling through his hair with both hands when I watched him in an utter disbelief of what I was hearing. My mouth gaped open, and I think even my v\crying stopped from the shock of his words.

'You cannot possibly mean all this, Joe,' I stammered with difficulty.

I think my heart sunk while I waited him respond.

'Oh, but I do mean all of this Cupcake. I sure do. And you have to choose how it will go on from this very point.'

I was beat. The man I loved was asking me to stop being who I was, and I could not help but start crying again.

I love Joe. And my heart was bursting with all these feelings, but the alternative I was given was even more terrifying. I started hyperventilating and had to force myself to take in even the smallest breaths.

I can't. I can't do that Joe. Oh, I'm sorry but don't ask me of this Joe. I was desperately thinking. But the hard look on Joe's face told me that he was through, and I either had to give in, or…

Jesus, but I did not want it to be like this.

'I'm going Joe,' I said and attempted to rise off of the bed. 'You ask me to choose between being myself and not being myself anymore. And I can't. I can't stop being who I am, even for you.'

Taxi. I need to call for a taxi.

* * *

My hair was still wet from the shower I had earlier. My eyes were all red and puffy, but at least I have managed to stop crying by now, though once in a while an occasional sob would still find its way out. I felt pretty drunk by now, both because of the excess emotions from my fight with Joe, and from those shots of vodka I've gulped down as soon as I've set foot into my apartment. Three small olives I had on top of these shots clearly were not even close to ease the feeling of hunger, which I've tried hard to ignore.

I cuddled into my bed with a blanket over my head and lay still for a while, until uneasy sleep crept in and I have slipped into the realm of heavy dreams.

I woke with a start and sat bold upright in one go. It was already evening and dimness was creeping all over the place. Then my ears caught a silent rumble of my apartment doors being opened. And sure enough there was Ranger letting himself in. Though the apartment was already dim, I could not mistake that stature for another.

Great, as if I want to deal with him right now.

I brushed my tangled hair off of my face and felt my puffy eyes with fingertips. Yikes. Wonder Woman from hell, I grimaced for myself.

Ranger closed the gap between us and carefully positioned himself next to me on the edge of my bed.

'You OK, Babe?' he asked me.

I nodded. 'Yeah. Kinda.' Or at least I will some time, I added to myself.

He was looking intently into my face and I felt this urge to hide from his glance.

'I did not really expect to find you here. So, what happened?'

Sure. The mystery man of few words now found out that he could talk after all.

I threw an eye-roll in his direction, but he just kept staring at me not even shifting his glance an inch off of my face.

'We had this huge fight with Morelli earlier. And we're done for good.'

'Babe', he said and clasped me into his tight grip.

I gulped down a lump in my throat, and shifted my whole body even closer to Ranger, then buried my face into his warm chest. We sat motionless like this for a while, and I was immensely enjoying the warmth and safety of Ranger's embrace.

'Thank you,' I whispered into his chest so softly that I wasn't sure he could hear me.

He did. He squeezed my shoulders bit harder.

'Any time Babe. I'm here for you.'

'I know,' I sighed and pulled away from him. 'That helped like a lot, Ranger. I wasn't even aware I needed you so badly.'

He looked into my eyes and kept my gaze fixed into his dark eyes for one long moment as if checking if I was really OK now.

My stomach chose this very moment to remind of itself and gurgled loudly.

'Babe, you never disappoint,' Ranger grinned back at me. 'I think we should feed that angry animal or he my might turn on me.'

That got a chuckle out of me, and suddenly the whole grimness of today has lifted off of my mind if only for a second.

'Yeah, I would not mind to get a proper sugar fix.' Hey, I did not get ANY today. So go figure, but at this moment a mention of food only brought visions of cakes and pies into my tired mind.

'Well, we'll see about that,' Ranger replied. 'Should I get something for you, or would you be willing to go to my apartment and let Ella get something for you?'

I did not really want to leave my apartment and risk anyone seeing me in such a dreadful condition, but Ella was tempting.

'Aw, isn't it a bit late to bother Ella?' I doubted and bit on my lower lip in anticipation.

Ranger grinned back at me. 'Get yourself ready and let me worry about that.' And he stood up in one smooth motion taking me out of bed with him.

Show-off. And I showed my tongue at him.

'You don't want to mess with me right now, Babe. But remember, I've warned you about consequences of showing your tongue at me once.'

**FIVE**

I am in love with Ella, I thought with my mouth full of wonderful waffles Ella concocted for me, and I was moaning a little bit with pleasure of savoring every mouthful I took.

Ranger was looking at my mouth transfixed, his fork frozen midway to his mouth.

'Whaa,' I mumbled. 'Can't a girl have a small pleasure of really enjoying herself?' I teased him playfully.

'Oh, I could help you with that, Babe,' he teased me back with a full on smile spreading on his face. 'But I'm not so sure you're up for a challenge right now, he continued in his sexy low voice. But that was just a tease. I knew him just too well.

When we settled in for a night, Ranger held me tight in his hands. My head was comfortably snuggled onto his chest.

'Sleep, Babe. I won't let anyone or anything hurt you,' and he kissed me on my forehead.

'I know,' I replied in a whisper. And soon after I slipped into a dream, snuggled warmly in a safe Ranger's embrace.

I was floating among softest of clouds, surrounded my engulfing warmth and scent of heaven at hand. In my sleep I shifted closer to this source of sheer pleasure and rubbed my face deep into it. The heaven then shook.

'Babe,' I heard a voice right in my ear. 'You don't know what you are doing to me. And I am not a man of steel.'

What? I opened my eyes I found myself snuggled into Ranger. He was watching me with a rather happy grin on his face. Bulgari and Ranger. So that's where my visions of heaven came from.

'Did I woke you up?' I asked hoarsely from sleep.

'No man living could have slept with you wiggling in all these small sexy ways as you just did,' he answered and planted a quick peck on the top of my nose. I looked him over, and sure enough there was a bulge under the blanket.

'Uh-um, sorry.'

'Don't be,' he replied in a hurry, and the next moment I've found myself pressed under his full weight and drowning in a passionate storm of kisses that followed. All thoughts have vanished from my mind and there was only heat and rising desire left. My body moved of it's own volition, trying to get closer to his.

'Dios, Babe,' he whispered with a voice husky with passion. 'You could kill a man.'

My hormones were unleashed, and I was desperate for some real action.

'I want you Ranger,' I whispered.

He deepened his kisses, and his hands made wonders with my body. I wanted him in me badly, but he'd checked all my attempts.

'Not yet, Babe. Not yet.'

I buried my fingers in his soft hair, and I almost felt him purr with pleasure of this caress. From our one night together I knew oh so well how much Ranger loved to be touched, and how much he loved his hair to be touched. For a man of steel he had a very smooth and sensitive skin which I so much loved touching in return.

He was kissing every inch of my body, concentrating on my lips, neck, nipples, and… the very point of my winded passion; he caressed me in all the right places until I was not a master of my own body anymore. Then I came into his hands, his name escaping my mouth with long moans. He watched me come, still not letting me get the full of him.

'I want you, Ranger,' I called him out, trying to pull him into me once more.

'It's OK, Babe. It's OK my sweet angel.' He did not gave in. He made sure I'd come, but refused me the chance to make him come in return.

And though he was telling me he was OK, his still pronounced manhood told quite another story.

'But…' I tried to protest, but he shut me off kissing hard on my mouth.

'I got what I needed.' He rolled on his side taking his pleasant weight off of me, and taking me with him still held strong between his arms.

I knew he was still roused, but Ranger was fully in control, and would not let me make him act on his desires. Morelli would've never stopped me this if we'd come this far.

Morelli. Shit.

Well, technically we were on yet another and this time seemingly permanent off phase of our long lived on and off relationship with Joe, but still the very thought of him made me tense. I was sure I've registered the very moment when Ranger sensed me tense, and he backed away even if for a barely notable fraction. A small sigh escaped him, and I caught myself thinking, that maybe Ranger was a human after all, and that the next time I might get an eye roll from him.

'Sorry Ranger.'

'It's OK, Babe. Today is not some day yet.'

He once has threatened me that some day he would claim me as his own and that then I'd be ruined for all other men for good. I have laughed at the notion back then, but after our one and only night together some time ago, I wasn't so sure that was a joke after all.

The sexual tension between us now has been broken, but the silence, which followed, was cozy.

I did not want to dwell about my messed up life or the two men in my life right now, so I just chose to ignore these thoughts for the moment. But I knew I'd have to go there sometime.

Ranger's alarm clock then started to beep, and I turned to check out what time it was.

5.30 a.m. Oh, boy. And I was fully awake for some time now. That was clearly unthinkable. I am so not a morning person, that me being awake this early caught me by surprise.

'I need to get moving, Babe. Should I ask Ella to bring you breakfast sometime later?' he asked already positioning himself to climb off of bed.

'Sure', but make sure it's no earlier than 8 o'clock. I think I might get back to sleep.'

He glanced at me as if about to say something, but just nodded instead.

A man of mystery was all softie this morning, I thought carefully and grinned at myself watching Ranger go to get dressed for a gym.

'Join me in the conference room at 9, Babe. There's a job I think you might want to join in,' he said reemerging from bathroom.

'Sure,' I said, and then hurtful words Joe said about my bounty hunting skills and me working for Ranger crept on me and I winced.

'What is it?' he asked looking intently at me.

'Um, nothing. No, really,' I tried to reassure him with little success.

'Babe.'

OK, so he's back to one words, a thought flashed through my mind. I can do this too.

'Joe.'

'Hum.' This time he raised his eyebrow at me. 'Explain.'

'Well, it's just what Joe told me yesterday when we were fighting. He ridiculed my bounty hunting skills.'

'Babe, everyone does that. But you still always get your man, so you should not be upset all that much over this.'

I bit my nail uncertainly. 'He also said that you only give me jobs out of pity, and that you'd have done better without me the other night with Gramp.'

Ranger sat on the bed at my side and took my one hand into his.

'Babe,' he said looking straight into my eyes. 'You might not be the best bounty hunter, mostly even the very opposite of the best. But you have a set of very strong instincts, which you sometimes choose to ignore, but which always work fine for you when you listen to them. And I value that in you. I think that you are a good addition to my team, and my men share my opinion on this. So don't you ever think that I do not appreciate you. Never. You hear me?'

I saw in his eyes that what he was telling was true, so I nodded in acknowledgement.

He leaned downed and smacked me on my lips, and then rose to leave.

'See you later on fifth,' I waved him.

I watched him walk away, and felt content for the time being. The ghosts of yesterday's fears backed off. I was once again Wonder Woman, and I felt I could fly again.

**SIX**

When I entered the conference room, Ranger, Lester, Hal and some two other unknown to me guys were already there. Seeing these two strangers, I was very self conscious that I looked like crap what with my head still bandaged and face all bruised.

'Take a seat, Stephanie. We'll begin as soon as Tank joins us,' Ranger acknowledged me.

Hal nodded at me as a greeting, and Lester approached me. 'How are you doing Bombshell?' he asked me in lowered voice, presumably so that the two strangers would not hear him.

'Thanks, Lester. I'm really OK.' And I smiled at him tenderly, then took a seat and observed those other two men, wondering whom they might be.

One of those two men was middle age, with his hair cropped closely and some of the gray already showing on his temples. There was something about his stance and suit, which screamed law enforcement to me. FBI, CIA? I've wondered which of the guesses was right.

The other was much younger and probably close to my age. Well built and rather handsome. His overall appearance and suit would have fitted a wealthy banker, but I was guessing it was not the case.

Tank joined the party and as everyone got seated, Ranger turned to these strangers and said that the meeting could begin.

'I think we should make some introductions here as some of you haven't met yet,' he went on. 'Stevens, Andrews,' he addressed the men and waved in my direction in my direction. 'This is Stephanie Plum. She's a bounty hunter here in Trenton, and she'll be joining us on the operation. Stephanie, this is Timothy Stevens,' he introduced the elder man, 'and he is a FBI agent. And Dan Andrews here is with the DEA.'

With the short introduction over, Ranger then turned to filling on the details of the upcoming operation.

'Stevens would you like to carry on?' asked Ranger.

Stevens rose from his seat and began. 'We've been trying for over a year now to find something stick on Rodriguez's organization, but so far nothing worked as the guy is slick as an eel.'

Dan chose this moment to step in. 'At the end of the month, however, he's orchestrating a massive trade of illegal guns, and at that point, if we play it well, we might get this guy and put whole organization down.'

I listened to the details and slowly the scope of operation unfolded for me.

FBI and DEA offices have been aware of Rodriguez's organization's dealings with drugs and illegal arms, but they were unable to get anything substantial to prove the whole thing so far. A major operation of putting the organization down has been planned and the authorities turned to RangeMan for assistance in carrying it out. RangeMan came into the picture as a supposed massive buyer of illegal arms. The transaction was planned to take place a month from now and, if everything went as planned, the FBI and DEA hoped they would get all the proof and catch Rodriguez red-handed at that point.

I wasn't sure yet what role in this whole operation would be denoted for me, but I trusted that Ranger knew what he was doing asking me to be part of it. The very thought of him trusting me to be into this was very uplifting. Sure Morelli had to be wrong on Ranger coping with me only out of pity.

When the meeting was over and everyone rose to leave, Ranger asked me to stay.

'Ranger, this whole thing seems huge. Are you sure you want me in it?' I enquired when everyone else retired.

'Babe of cause I want you in it. I wouldn't have ask you otherwise.'

He closed the gap between us and took hold of my both hands.

'We'll need someone to be running searches during this whole thing, and I thought you could cover it well. Also there might be necessary to pull off some distraction job, and you're real good at that,' he told me looking intently. 'So are you in?'

'Uh-um. Sure, count me in then.' I smiled at him relieved. 'Well, I'd better go to my cubicle now.'

'Don't over exhaust yourself Babe. Head injuries are pretty serious stuff.'

'I'm OK Ranger. Don't worry.'

My day wasn't turning as productive as I thought it would be as the Merry Men were constantly dropping by my cubicle in ones and twos to check in on me. Not that I was complaining that a whole fleet of hot RangeMan men showed me they cared for me.

And most of them also brought me some offerings of drinks – coffee, soda; you name it! - and food. So a girl should be real thick to complain.

There was a catch, however. Almost everyone insisted that I'd get a bite or take a sip of what they've brought to me, and sure enough I soon was full to the top.

I turned to answer to Ram's greeting and my bladder chose that time to kick in. hard. Like I needed a bathroom like NOW.

There was no women's restroom on this floor and that meant that I had to make a trip to the seventh. But the very moment I got up, I was pretty sure that even the mad dash would not take me there dry. And as wetting myself in from of the whole bunch of Merry Men was not an option, my heated brain concocted a brilliant plan of making a trip to men's restroom, which was so much closer. I just prayed that there wouldn't be anyone in there at the moment.

I made a dash for it and burst into the restroom with a force of a mad woman. But apparently God was in playful mood today.

'WHAT A FUCK!' Ram yelled at me as I ran past him with his pants still unzipped and his whole package on display to lock myself in the closest unoccupied stall.

'Emergency! Sorry!' I yelled him back, but he might not have heard me, as I've heard him stumble loudly out of the restroom, and heard other men burst in loud laughs before the door to the restroom shut close behind him.

So there goes my plan for a fast in-and-out down a flush. If Ram shot out of here with his pants still unzipped, as I thought he actually did judging from all these laughs, there were no chance the whole thing would stay quiet now. Oh, damn my luck.

The only thing on my mind was escape, but that wasn't likely to happen. I washed my hands, grinning madly at my reflection in a mirror, and mentally prepared myself for the inevitable.

I still had a tiny hope to sneak out of the restroom drawing as little attention to my person as possible though, so I opened the door for an inch to make a quick sneak-peek, and uproar of laughs and applause greeted me there. Oh, shit. That was even worse than I could've imagined.

'Babe, come out,' I heard a voice so familiar to call me out just as I was to duck back in.

Damn, but I surely did not expect HIM to be here too.

Ranger opened the door and held it for me.

'No use hiding now that the milk has been spilt.'

There was this 1000 watts smile of his face, so my spirits soured. Could it be that all will work out for me after all?

'I just needed to go to a bathroom big time…' I ranted explaining myself in a hurry.

But the guys, Ranger included, just smiled and grinned back at me. Could it be they are not mad with me?

'Babe, stop apologizing. A couple of hours earlier you've wondered if you're can be an asset to the team. Now look what we have here – you've disarmed a trained man like Ram in one blow, and not even touching him.'

Everyone laughed once more, and it was obvious that they were enjoying the whole situation. Only Ram did not seem very happy, but even he grinned a bit. Well, the other guys might be picking on Ram for this unlucky situation, so I could understand his grimness.

'But for the future I'd advise you to make sure the restroom is completely unoccupied, before storming in, if you're going to use this one ever again. A sign stating 'Caution Bombshell' would work too.'

Huh-huh, very funny. I gave him an eye-roll.

'Yeah, and I'm not ever bringing her any drinks. Ever. Or else she might explode on me the next time,' jested Lester and all of the gathered guys seemed to agree with the statement as they kept nodding and chuckle.

'Oh, but we could use this trick on some FTA, don't you think?' Sam had a better idea.

I narrowed my eyes and looked at him. Oh boy, you better watch out Sam.

'Babe,' Ranger smiled at me one more time and went away.

The rest of the guys also started dispersing, though I still could pick up pieces of their laughter and conversations. 'Oh, tell till we tell the guys whom missed the whole thing. They'll die of envy' or 'Les, how come you have run away from a girl?'

Sure, count on Bombshell to create a perfect situation for a yet another office legend to be born. This officially was the second one. The first one was, when I've talked Hal to give me his stun-gun, then successfully stun-gunned him, and escaped his custody.

OK, Stephanie, now back to work.


	2. Part 2

**SEVEN**

Ranger. That was my first thought after I regained conscience, and on any other given day that might have been a happy one. Ranger quite often was my happy thought. Not today though.

I've been gagged; my arms and legs tied tight together; and I lay on a filthy ground in a van. And right now the van has been going at its top speed in an unknown to me direction.

I've been abducted by two Rodriguez men. One of whom was currently driving the van, and the other was leaning out of the window of the van and shooting.

'Man, can't we go any faster? They're closing on us!' the shooter yelled to another.

'Shut up! I'm doing my best. This is a fucking van and not some sports car!' the driver yelled back at him.

And THAT was just like the very beginning of my problems.

Currently my biggest problem was that I've seen Ranger being shot and go down, and right now I wasn't even aware if he was dead or alive. And not knowing made me feel almost physically sick with worry. A bump on my head, one of these guys gave me with a gun, wasn't helping me much either.

God, don't let him die, I was desperate in my impotence and ignorance.

I tried to sit up, and that caught the attention of the shooter.

'Lay down, you bitch, or I'm gonna shoot your head off!' he was pointing his gun at me, and I did as he asked.

Gosh, but this time I really outdid myself and was not just rolling in my usual garbage, but was rapidly going down in an ocean of garbage I wasn't ever cut for in the first place.

I might have loved to be Wonder Woman in my fantasies, but in reality I was a loser. I weas a loser Ranger always had to come rescuing.

Ranger. This thought sobered me up in one go.

Get a grip, Stephanie. Don't give up. I can go through this and survive. For Ranger. For myself. For all those times he trusted in me.

Think. Just think. There still might be a way out.

'FUCK! You've almost crashed into that wall Tony!'

'Shut up! SHUT UP!' the driver yelled. 'We need to get rid of the tail! Do something about that!'

'Man! Don't you…'

'GRENADES! There're grenades in the back! Go get 'em! NOW!'

Tony then turned the van round a corner, and I was sent rolling on the ground.

The shooter crawled off of his seat and got closer to me looking for Tony's grenades.

Here was my chance. Now or never. I could barely move with my hands and legs tight, but I still was about to lunge at the guy and try to knock gun out of his hands.

'You bitch!' he yelled going down.

I struggled to keep him motionless, and was losing badly. He was stronger than me, and had his arms already freed. He was still holding his gun.

'You're gonna pay for this!'

SLAM!

**EIGHT**

It was pitch-black dark out here, though I wasn't even aware where the hell 'here' was. I did not know what time it was, or how long I was unconscious.

Fear was settling in me with a new force. I usually could look for Ranger to come rescuing me in a situation like this. But this time I knew that Ranger won't come. He couldn't.

My head rang and there was a taste of blood in my mouth. I wasn't gagged this time; instead a tight strip of scotch was taped over my mouth so I could not yell or make much of a sound.

My arms felt super numb and lifeless; I've been hanged on them so that my feet did not reach ground. I tried kicking around to check if there was anything around me I could stand on or something, but these motions only sent me swinging, and the strain on my arms was now so bad I could barely take it. But I kicked and kicked, and kicked time after time. One try after another. I wasn't going to go down easy. No. I was going to die kicking, if it was meant to happen.

I was crying, my nose was blotched, and I had trouble breathing, but if there was no Ranger to my rescue, I needed to do something myself. Anything just to keep sane in this madness.

Come on, one more try. I urged myself to keep on going, scared that I was going to lose this one.

Ranger. Oh my God, Ranger. I so hope you're OK.

Then I heard some male voices closing in.

'…sure, Boss. We've got lost of the tail. Totally sure of that.'

"Yeah, Boss. Them blew up nice and easy, what with Tony's grenade got straight under their car.'

There was hoarse laughter coming from two of men.

'Enough,' cut in the third one, and I reckoned that was Boss. 'That was an easy job I gave you, and you messed it up.'

'But Boss.'

'Shut up Tony. I needed that Ranger bloke here, and instead you bring me his bitch, and he is most probably dead,' he said. 'And d'ya reckon she'll be worth anything? Nah, especially if that Ranger guy dies, and I hear from my guy he's in trouble right now.'

Oh, my God, Ranger's alive. He's alive. Hurt badly, I reckoned, but still he was alive. I was once again crying and could not stop myself. He might live, he might live, I was thinking. Ranger's strong. He's like this cat with nine lives. And I've felt my spirits rise a bit. If he's gonna make, I must too.

'Sorry Boss,' pleaded the one I've recognized from a voice as a shooter from the van. 'But even with all preparedness, that guy managed to raise hell and caught Menny off guard. Don was lucky to get him down, or else all might have gone down the flush.'

'Yeah, Boss. Sergio here is right. That Ranger guy is like Special Forces or something. He had Menny down in one go. And he wasn't even aware of this being a trap, but he's that fast…'

'Shut the hell up! Luckily Lee helped us out, or else we'd all now be cuffed. The team who had to take FBI and DEA off are coming in already, so that's not all that bad after all. And the money you've brought in is unmarked and real. So we'll have to regroup here and have some rats smoked.'

'You think there is someone ranting on us to the FBI?' Sergio asked.

''Yes, and thanks to Lee, I now have an idea just whom that might be. Come on, let's checked in on our guest and see how she might be of use.'

**NINE**

_Tank's POV_

Damn, Ranger was bad, though doctors reckoned he was gonna live. Hal has been shot too, but he only got hit to his upper leg, so he'll be just fine. But Boss, he made me worry big. It wasn't that long ago when he got shot saving Steph, and now he has been shot again. Bellies' wounds are nasty, and Ranger got hit at a close range and with some serious caliber gun. It was a small miracle he did survive through that hell.

'Ram,' I called on my cell, 'do we have anything on Steph's whereabouts?'

'Not yet, but we're working on that.'

'Try harder, Ram. Have every guy working on this. Steph and Rodriguez are now a priority.'

'I hear you man,' Ram replied. 'How's Boss doing?'

'He's out of surgery and docs say he'll live. But it is real nasty.'

Nasty? I knew all about nasty. I've seen it up close. I've waded through all sorts of human shit with Ranger, and now I was about to wade in it one more time. My best friend had almost died today. Bombshell has been lost. And someone at FBI or DEA office has sold us out to Rodriguez. And it wasn't going to be smelling roses when I was done with whoever those were.

'Ram, let the boys know that there are no rules here. If someone wants out, it is high time for that. Do you read me?'

There was a silence on the other end.

'Ram?'

'Copy that, Tank,' and he hung up.

I needed to find Steph. And I needed to get my hands on those responsible for all this mess.

When everybody was struggling, Ranger was the one to push through. When everyone was lost, Ranger was the one to find our way. And when we faltered, he was always there to pick us up. After all he's done to all of us, this time I – all of his men – had to step in and pick Him up.

**TEN**

The light went on, and finally I could take a look around. My guess of this place being some sort of warehouse was close to the truth. In fact it was some old industrial freezer, one of them usually used to store large quantities of meat. And I was hung on one of the hooks used for meat carcasses, me feet dangling some 10 centimeters off of the ground.

Thanks God they don't keep meet in here, I thought. It was bad enough being kidnapped and helpless, but a thought of sharing same space with large chunks of meat… that gave me serious creeps. The other piece of 'good' news was that they kept the freezer off. Otherwise I might have turned into an icicle by now.

Some metal stacks were lined against the freezer walls; from what I could see from my awkward position, the shelves were mostly covered with dust and empty. Only one set of shelves was filled with some boxes, but I could not possibly see what was in them.

'Take Louis and come here,' I hear a voice yell, and then Rodruguez stepped into the freezer.

'Well well well Ms Plum,' he shook his head and clicked his tongue at me. 'What am I supposed to do with you now?'

Then the door to the freezer opened once more letting Tony and a huge guy in.

'Louis,' Rodriguez addressed the other man, 'take Ms Plum here off the hook and tie her to a chair instead. I prefer looking down on my enemies and not vice versa.'

Louis, who in a strange way resembled me of Tank, only being this wicked version of him, easily unhooked me and carried to a chair.

My limbs were so lifeless, that I did not attempt struggling at the time. So while I was being taped with some scotch to the backrest, I just sat tight.

Thousands of needles started piercing the skin on my arms as blood circulation slowly restored, and I bit the inside of my mouth trying not to groan. My mouth was still taped tight and I could not speak, but I also was quite determined not to let Rodriguez know that I was feeling miserable.

Rodriguez closed the gap between us and for a second intently looked me into eye, the he leaned over and tore the tape off of my mouth.

That was so unexpected that I could not hold a moan.

'So Ms Plum, let us talk.'

'I've nothing to say to you,' I retorted, but my mouth was so dry that that came out only just as some lamentable groan.

'Heroics, eh? Not that it did any good to your boyfriend back there, when he stepped in to shield you from bullet.' He was leaning heavily over me, so that only an inch separated our faces. 'Your boyfriend tried to get me for FBI and DEA, and I don't like it than people turn law enforcement on me. I have my ways of getting away from these traps, but it still means that I have to wrap up some of my business. And that means losing some serious money. And bleeding money makes me real cranky here, hon', so you better not anger me anymore.'

I looked at him trying my best to lock away the fear I've been feeling, and failing completely, as the tears started welling in my eyes and rolling down my cheeks.

'So Ms Plum how much d'ya reckon you're worth for your boyfriend?'

'He is not my boyfriend. And I have no money.'

He laughed at this, and so did his men. Have you ever noticed that thugs always do that when their bosses laugh?

'My sources have told me a different story here. So you better pray now that your man lives, or else you die gonna a slow death.' He touched my hair with his hand, and brushed my cheek with another. 'This Ranger man has a good taste in women, I reckon. So if no ransom comes for you, honey, then I'll gladly share you with all of my men. I like sharing.' And he laughed into my face.

Of my God and shelves of Tastykakes, but I believed his every word, and shuddered.

**ELEVEN**

_Tank's POV_

'Talk,' I answered my phone sharply. I was in no mood to beat around the bushes.

'We might have a location for her, Tank.'

'I'm listening,' I was desperate for some, any news. Ranger has regained conscience, and he really wanted to know where Steph was. And I felt I could not thwart him long on this, or else he might attempt going for her himself. And that could kill him.

'Her cell was on for a brief moment, but we've tracked the signal to this secluded area. I'm sending you a map right away. There's this old slaughter house there, which has been out of business for couple of years now, and our guess is that Rodriguez is hiding there.'

'Good. I'll be there in twenty. Make sure the men are ready until then.'

'Absolutely,' and he severed the call.

I felt Ranger's eyes burning into my back.

'Tank. Talk to me man.'

'We might have a lead on Rodriguez and I intend to check on it,' oh, I so wasn't going to tell him that Steph was missing and most probably held there.

'Have you checked on the possible leaks in FBI and DEA offices?' he asked me.

A hole in his belly, but he still won't let go.

'There's nothing on that, but we'll keep digging. No worries, Rangeman.'

He looked me straight into the eyes, and asked. 'Where is Stephanie?'

I could not answer him. Not now. And, what Lula would've called first class stalling, I've mumbled something about being late and ducked for the door.

My cell rang. I looked at the screen and it read 'Stevens'. I pressed green to answer, but did not say anything.

'Tank? Tank can you hear me?' Stevens sounded nervous, but I still kept my silence. 'I need to talk to you. I have this possible lead on the rat who sold us out.'

'My man will contact you soon on that. There is something else for me to do before going for your rats.'

I still did not trust the man completely, but he calling me was something. We'll need any help on catching the snout. Right now my priorities were Steph and Rodriguez. Better to die from a bullet than answer to Ranger, if he finds out we did not keep Bombshell safe. Damn, but that man should stop playing cat and mouse with Stephanie. And if all will go well, I was planning on telling him right that. Lula would applaud me for that too. And happy Lula meant happy boys. Damn.

**TWELVE**

The lights went on, and someone has entered the freezer.

I could not see who that was, as I was in an uncomfortable position on the ground still tied to that chair. My previous attempts to free myself only resulted in me knocking the chair off, so now I was laying sideways on the ground, and at the moment could not do much of anything.

'Hey you, tried to escape I see. Not gonna happening.' I heard a voice closing on me and instantly recognized it was Tony's.

He closed on me and pulled me upright.

'Rodriguez told me to take care of you, so now I'm now gonna take this tape off of you mouth and chest so you can eat and drink, but don't you dare playing with me or I'll just knock you off for good. Rodriguez might think that you'll be worth more intact, but I think your boyfriend there would still pay for you good money, even if your face were ruined a bit. Huh-huh.' He sneered at me and pulled off the tape of my mouth, and then took a pocketknife to cut the tape, which held me to the backrest of the chair.

'Don't even think about doing something stupid here, woman.' He then handed me a sandwich.

'Hey, can't you untie my hands? How do you expect me to eat with them still tied?' I tried my luck.

Tony just chuckled. 'Your hands are tied in front, so that'll do. Don't think I'm stupid or something.'

But I wasn't giving up that easy. Nuh-uh. So I pushed even harder.

'Could you take me to a bathroom, though? I do need that badly. And then I'd eat, so everyone would be happy?'

Tony was thinking hard. Clearly he hasn't been told to do anything of this kind.

'You eat first, and then I'll bring you some pot,' he finally has reached some decision, and then turned his gaze off of me for a second.

That's when I sprang to my feet and lunged at him with all my weight. I took him by surprise, and my assault knocked him to the ground leaving us both on the ground legs tangled, and fighting. I bent my knee and kicked him hard in the groin, and as he doubled from that kick, I bent down on him and hit him hard on his head with mine.

That send a wave of sudden pain to my forehead, but got him knocked out, so I so my chance here. I rolled off of him and stood up. My hands were still tied, and for a moment I've contemplated the idea of searching Tony's pockets for the knife, but my ears have caught some noise from outside, and I opted straight for the door instead.

Marshmallows and doughnuts give me strength.

**THIRTEEN**

_Tank's POV_

We've left the trucks and now were closing in on the target on foot. The advance was slowed down remarkably by the darkness which surrounded us and by necessity to keep as quiet as possible, so that we'd close on unnoticed. Taking Rodriguez by surprise was important, or else it could result in compromising Stephanie's safety as well as could give him a chance to get away. And that's not happening. Not on my shift. Not this time round. I've let him slip away once, and wasn't going to make same mistake twice.

Every RangeMan man taking part in this operation was in full combat gear and we've all been carrying guns. Not just our regular side arm pieces, but also some serious military stuff. It was going to a tough job explaining the whole business to the authorities afterwards, but first things first. And I was going to try my luck with that later. Now the priority was to get Stephanie back and to take in Rodriguez. Dead or alive. Every one of us knew what was at stake here, but no man who volunteered to come here today faltered. Ranger had done some serious help both to military and law enforcement forces, and I hoped that his high scores would come in handy this time round too.

'Tank,' Don called on radio, 'there's a runner in sight.'

Have we been noticed?

'Don, advance with cautiousness and try to intercept him. As quiet as possible,' I ordered.

'Copy that Tank,' he replied and went off.

'Everyone take cover and wait.'

I crouched behind a fence myself and waited. I caught myself clenching the stock of my gun hard, and forced myself to relax the grip a little bit.

Steady the breath, soldier, I told myself. Rushing in could be fatal here. And I wasn't risking that.

'Tank,' Don checked in after a while. 'It's Bombshell, I got her.'

I let out a breath I wasn't even aware I was holding in.

'Take her back to the trucks, Don. Guys, be ready to move out on my command.'

'Copy that,' came in multiple replies.

With Steph safe in the back, there was one problem less to worry about. That left me with only Rodriguez at hand. And it wasn't to be pretty. I counted to ten before giving out a command.

'Go go go,' I cried and then sprang to run into advance, triggering the attack on Rodriguez.

**FOURTEEN**

I need to look like an idiot at least twice a day to keep myself humble. And I felt like a complete one, when I suddenly realized that whom I so despairingly had been fighting to get off of me was one of Ranger's men, and not a Rodriguez's as I've feared. And as soon as this realization sunk in, my whole body went wimp. Crap, crap, crap.

'Hush, hush, I'm gonna take you away from here,' I heard him whisper into my ear, but could not even nod in reply. And he half carried, half dragged me away.

Good. Cause my legs were made completely of jelly, and I could not trust them to carry me a single step at all.

The ruckus of gunshots and shouts, which jarred the night, woke me from my temporary immobility.

'Omigod,'I said on a sudden flash of sleep-deprived insight. 'Have I started a World War Three?'

'Well, that's just Tank and some guys playing war games. No worries, Bombshell.'

Yikes. Another Merry Men with a sense of humor. Ranger might get angry with me for making his supermen human.

That earned me another chuckle.

The dawn was already creeping in on us, when Tank and some of the guys returned to the trucks. They all looked tired, but otherwise fine. I sprang out of the SUV and ran to meet them.

'Talk to me Tank.' I was eager to know what was going on and if everything was OK, and Don wasn't much of assistance to me on that regard. Some guys passing me slapped me on my ass awarding me with some passing comments like 'Well done' or 'Keep it up, Bombshell'. Just like they often do when in gym, where my ass becomes a fair game.

Yikes. Clearly I should talk to Ranger about his men communication skills. And I shot an eye-roll at them.

'We have Rodriguez and most of his men secured. FBI's gonna be here shortly, so I think Lester and Ed would better take you away now. I'll deal with FBI for now.' Tank summarized.

And, for a man of little words I happened to know Tank was, that was indeed a long speech. But it wasn't even close to how much more I wanted to hear from him. But I decided to go easy on him for now, as something in his whole stance was telling me that I won't get anything from him here. Fine. I might as well try to interrogate Lester and Ed.

'Could you tell me how's Ranger? Don did not tell me anything.' I bit my lower lip waiting for his reply.

Tank looked at me intently, and sighed before answering. Well well well, but there is an eye-roll coming out of him one day.

'He was out of surgery and awake, when we left. He's going to be fine. Though that was one nasty hole in his belly, so it'll take some time before he's back to full strength.'

I let out a sigh of relief. God, Don not telling me anything made me think that the worst might have happened.

I was ridding shotgun for Lester as Ed insisted me taking the front seat. Not that I complaining or anything. Having some space to stretch your legs is always fine with me. Can't a girl have some small joys or what?

'So, Lester, are you going to tell me about the fight?' I rounded Les as soon as the SUV was on the way.

Les gave me a sideways glance before condescending to answering. 'Just some regular job. Nothing you should worry about, Bombshell.'

Huh-uh. You can't fool me on that. Not gonna happen.

And I was about to turn in on him for one more try, when Ed cut in. 'You'd better tell us how did you manage to get away, Stephanie? THAT was quite a feat you've done.'

'Oh, that was just a regular stuff of kicking deep and hard into some felon's groin,' I waved dismissively. 'You know that always does a trick with bad guys,' I retorted lightly and got myself some good old laughs from both of men.

'Count of Bombshell to make our day,' Les laughed and I gave him one of my eye-rolls. Luckily I have an endless supply of these.

'So are going to fill me in on the details?'

'Nah, we're just for a bodily transportation services here,' laughed Lester. 'I'll eave it up to Tank to fill you in. if he wants.'

Clearly he wasn't going to give in so I sighed and I gave up for now.

'Fine,' I sneered at them and crossed my hands over my chest. 'So take me to Ranger then.'


	3. Part 3

**FIFTEEN**

I was all messy and looked like crap, but I wanted to see Ranger so badly that I thought shower and changing into clean cloths could wait.

Like me the last time, Ranger had one of these 'presidential' hospital room all by himself with the addition of two Merry Men standing guard on the outside. I smiled at them and let myself in.

Ranger was awake and locked his eyes with mine as I entered the room.

'Babe. I hear you've outdone yourself tonight.'

'Uh-uh. And I hear you have this hole in your belly,' I replied and got to his bed. Then carefully positioned myself on the edge.

'So? How are you doing Batman?'

He gave me back one of his almost smiles, and though his eyes were vivid and full of life, I could see he was still in considerable pain. And his skin lighter a full tone also gave me some clue, that he wasn't at his best.

I brushed his cheek with my hand and I caught his gaze fix on the bruises on my wrist from the straps.

'It's nothing Ranger. I've just some minor bruises over there. But I'm unhurt.'

'Good,' he replied. 'Or I should kill Rodriguez otherwise.'

'You might be late for that. Tank's being secretive about the whole operation against Rodriguez, so I think he might have got to him first,' I said and leaned over to plant a soft kiss on his lips.

He won't let go of me that easily though, and what was intended as a tender kiss turned into a tongue on tongue wrestle. And my hormones kicked in on me hard.

Damn, but I should learn to control them someday.

'Tank has Rodriguez and most of his men secured, but there's gonna be some nasty business with FBI and DEA about that. They weren't happy to learn of this escapade.'

'How come you're posted on what was going on over there, and Tank or other guys would not talk to me? And I WAS there!'

That is so unfair.

But Ranger just rolled his eyes at me. God, is it Apocalypse already. I almost fell off the bed seeing him do this.

'Babe, I can smell something burning,' he said laughing and sure enough there was a full on smile firmly planted on his face.

'I'd slap you, if you were sound,' I sneered at him, and got me another chuckle.

'No you wouldn't. Besides there are lots of better things we could do together,' he got my hand to his lips and kissed my palm looking at me.

Cry ma nilly. This man could seduce a stone statue even in his own sickbed.

'Babe,' and he laughed at me.

Laughter is good. Ain't it?

What can I say? I cannot say 'no' to Batman. I'm not crazy or something, but this time this should wait.

**SIXTEEN**

It's been whole two weeks since Ranger was released from the hospital and was recovering speedily. He has even returned to doing some work – yeah, like a bullet hole could stop Batman or something. And all of this time I've been living on seventh and was taking care of him. Well, Nurse Stephanie's role wasn't entirely new to me, but I must tell that I really enjoyed looking after Ranger. Hm, I even had some pretty interesting ideas how I could put this role into use in a possibly near future. But I'm SO not going there right now.

I was enjoying benefits of living with Ranger a lot. Ella's wonders were just one of these bonuses. The others were Ranger's super comfy bed and an unlimited access to Bvlgari shower gel. But sharing the bed and the roof with Ranger also made me think on where was I going with my life. And I wasn't sure Ranger was going to be happy with the decisions I've made for myself.

I rented Ghostbusters, my all-time favorite inspirational movie. I picked up some microwave, popcorn, a KitKat, a bag of bite-sized Reese's peanut butter cups, and a box of instant hot chocolate with marshmallows, and a box of paper tissues on top. And thought that might be just enough to take me through the evening, if all went amiss, as I was planning to do some talking to Ranger tonight. The whole business with Rodriguez was scary, but compared to what might have possibly happen tonight, that was like a child's play.

So I took all these goods back to my apartment. If things went bad tonight with Ranger, I was planning on retreating to here and having some first-aid before being shipped to some third world country. And I reckon that was a high possibility.

I was about to leave when my doorbell rang. I looked through the peephole, and was surprised to see Morelli at my door.

'Hi Joe,' I said to him and let him in. 'What brings you here?'

Joe seemed tired and unkempt. He was ruffling nervously through his hair. With my hormones crazy and all, being at such close proximity to Joe was a little bit dangerous as throughout all of our on and off relationship I always had problem to keeping my distance for very long.

'Cupcake, I really needed to talk to you.'

'Um, I'm listening to you, Joe,' I said uncertainly. I wasn't all that sure, if I really wanted and needed to hear him out. But I did not want to run. Enough running.

'I really miss you Cupcake,' he started.

'Oh, I miss you too, Joe,' I replied tenderly, and that seemed to urge get closer, but I stretched my arm forward and stopped him a short way away from me.

'Joe, just don't. We all know how it would end. We've been there too many times, and it never worked.'

'Steph, I'm sorry for being an asshole earlier. But I miss you. I love you,' he went on. 'And I want us to try one more time. We're _meant _to be together.'

'Um, Joe,' I started even more uncertainly. 'I love you too. But we just do not work together. I would love us to stay friends, but I can't go back to us being a couple.'

He had me by my shoulders by now and was looking intently into my eyes.

'Do you really mean this, Stephanie?'

'I do Joe. Lots of things have happened and I've changed. I can't go back, and I can't be a Stephanie you need…'

'But I need YOU Cupcake!'

'No,' I met his gaze with mine, 'you need Stephanie who can never be.'

He let go of me and once again ruffled his hair. Looking at him I once more realized that I love this man, and that I still care for him a lot. But also more than ever I was sure we should part ways and only stay in each other lives as friends, or else we'd be heading for self-destruction.

'You should go now Joe.'

I got close to him and stood on my tiptoe to kiss him a soft goodbye kiss.

He tried to get hold of me, but met my eyes and stopped.

'Cupcake,' he whispered. 'If ever…'

'Good bye Joe.'

Reluctantly he left.

I wasn't planning on having this closure today, but nonetheless it felt right. I was sad to see Joe go, but hoped we'd manage to become friends. Someday.

I stood motionless for a while deep in my thoughts. Then shook off the momentarily stupor and got myself going. There was yet another talking waiting for me on seventh.

**SEVENTEEN**

We've just had dinner, which Ella has brought us in. I was distracted with all these thoughts running through my head, that I absent-minded was messing with this generous piece of finger-licking apple pie with some ice cream right in front of me. And I never, like NEVER, mess with my desserts.

'Babe, I can smell something burning there.'

I looked at him. And there he was, one eyebrow was arched and his face wore a mild look of interest. And he bored deep into my eyes with his burning gaze.

Get a grip, Stephanie. I embraced myself and gulped down a lump in my throat. I slightly changed my position on the edge of the couch so I was facing him.

'We need to talk.'

Ranger's eyebrow arched even more. Shit, I'm talking to an eyebrow.

'Let's talk then, Babe.' He leaned back on the couch and crossed his arms on his chest.

Uh-huh, no good that. I haven't even started; yet he already seemed to take a defensive position and create some distance between us. What? D'ya reckon it could be true and I've forced Batman into defensive?

I closed my eyes for a split second, trying to calm down my nerves, and, as that did not really work, I decided to take my chances.

'So here's the deal, Ranger,' I started as bravely as I could pull it off at the moment. 'I've been thinking a lot for the past couple of weeks about me, my life, the direction I'm going in right now and where I'd want it to take me next. And, well… I've made some decisions.' I paused trying to catch my breath and to get my thoughts into some order.

'Go on Babe,' he encouraged, but my ears have registered some slight change in his tone.

What was that? Reluctance? Anxiety? Or… uncertainty?

'You know, back then when I saw you being shot in that stupid warehouse, and later when I was held captive by Rodriguez, I was thinking how much I grew to trust and depend on you during these years. You were and always are there for me to protect, to save me, and to pick up my pieces when I shatter,' I raised my hand to him as he was about to speak. 'Please, just let me finish, Ranger, or I'll just chicken out.' A ghost of a smile passed his face as I said that, but he did not try to interrupt me anymore.

When I was six years old I sprinkled sugar on my head, convinced myself it was pixie dust, wished myself invisible, and walked into the boys' bathroom at school. Well, you might guess how it ended. Right now I wished I'd have some of that pixie dust to get some that deceitful confidence it gave me that last time, even if for a brief moment.

'I won't bite,' Ranger mouthed; he clearly picked up waves of uncertainty off of me and was now looking even more defensive. Shit, did I manage to scare off Batman himself?

'So I was in that freezer all tied up and with no prospect of getting away from there,' I continued, 'and I felt desperate, scared, and really thought that was it for me. Every single time I was danger, you were always there to my rescue, but that one time I just knew you _could not_ come,' my voice trembled a bit at this point. 'I knew that help might be coming, but it could not be _you._ And I learned something about myself that very day in that scary place… Hand me a piddly crisis like a cut on the finger or burnt toast and I freak. But I do well when it really counts.'

'Babe,' Ranger cut in at this point, 'I've been telling you all this time that you're better than you think. You just need to trust your instincts more.'

I shushed him once more, leaning closer to him and putting my finger to his lips.

'I did Ranger. Back in that freezer I did just that. And it worked. You were right all this time; it's just that I wasn't prepared to really listen to you before. You know, being raised in the Burg doesn't prepare you for situations like that,' I added in a haste.

He caught my hand into his and squeezed it gently, and I squeezed his back.

'With that realisation came another. Right there I understood clearer than ever why it never worked for me with Morelli. And why it never will or would either.'

Did I feel his hand twitch right now? Or am I imagining things? I couldn't be sure of myself at this point.

'Where are you headed with all this Stephanie?' Ranger asked me; same notes of uncertainty in his low tone and a blank face slipping in on his face.

I let a deep sigh escape me, before I continued. 'I can work. Bounty hunting can work for me. But I'll need your help with that Batman. If you don't mind.'

He nodded. 'I'll help you, if that is what you wish, Babe.' His blank face still on.

Oh, I _so _hated when I could not read his face.

'Good,' I nodded in return. 'I'll need lots of help, if I want to become some one better than just a joke bounty hunter for the whole Burg.'

'Anything else?' he enquired, still holding my gaze locked with mine and not even blinking.

OK here I go. And I plunged again.

'Umm, I'm not sure where to begin.'

Ranger slightly grinned at me. 'The beginning. Start at the beginning, Babe.'

Uh-huh. Sure. Just give me some manual here, please.

'You've told me once that what you could offer to me does not come with a ring.'

I received a slight nod of agreement from Ranger. It wasn't very encouraging, but I settled for that.

'And that's fine with me Ranger. I'm not ever going to ask you for a ring or anything of that sort. But you've made me some sort of a promise too.'

I observed his blank face lift off a bit and some curiousness settle in instead. So much for a man with unflinching self-control, huh?

'You kinda promised, that I you ever claimed me as your woman, I would be ruined for the rest of men. So, umm… I'd like to explore that part of a deal a little bit more. And I'm not backing off this time too,' I added in a hurry and held my breath biting hard on my lower lip waiting for him to reply.

Still no response. Oh, God, I'm dying here. Say something. Anything.

Ranger got closer to me and palmed my chin lifting my head so that our eyes locked tight just an inch or so apart.

'Babe you've asked for this yourself,' he said in a slow drawl and the next second I've found myself locked between his strong arms, and our mouths intertwined in wild kiss. 'How's that for an answer?' he said smiling with his 1000 watts smile on, when he pulled away for just a fraction.

I tried to smile back at him. 'Is that a 'yes', Batman?' I managed a whisper.

Cry ma nilly, but that _was_ a huge and unwavering YES.

When he first told me he could ruin me for all other men, I thought that was outrageous. I was much, _much_ wiser now. And if he told me, he could fly or get me the Moon, I would not doubt him if even for a second.

'Babe,' Ranger pulled away from me – and I was reluctant to let him go – turning on his side so that he'd face me. 'That part about no ring…'

'Ranger, I said it is OK with me,' I cut in.

Ranger isn't backing off, or is he?

'Not gonna happen, Babe. You're all mine from now on. And I'm not sharing.'

For once I was grateful for ESP.

'Huh?' So what's it all about?

'I might reconsider that part about the ring, Babe,' he whispered in a low husky voice, and had my eyes locked with his, which were filled with liquid passion and tenderness. 'But we're not inviting Morelli.'

I could not help but laugh out loud in my happiness.

'I love you Ranger,' I said and felt my heart skip a beat in anticipation.

'I love you too, Babe,' he said suddenly serious. 'And I'm not ever letting you away. Ever.'

Who was I to argue with that?

A wolfish grin spread on his face, and Ranger was back to ruining me. Mm… I might have trouble walking afterwards. But, _surely,_ walking is highly overrated.

**THE END**


End file.
